No easy road for Carter, team

S. Carolina, UCLA final starts today

OMAHA, Neb. — — South Carolina pitcher Ethan Carter had already began preparing for the lack of rest.

When he gave up a solo homer that put the Gamecocks on the brink of elimination from the College World Series, he thought the worst.

"I knew if we didn't score that run I wasn't going to sleep very well for the next month or two," Carter said.

As they have all season, the Gamecocks came to the rescue of a teammate. They scored two runs in the bottom of the 12th to keep their season alive and give Carter a chance for redemption against UCLA in the finals. The best-of-three series begins at 7:30 p.m., Monday at Rosenblatt Stadium.

"Hopefully, these next two or three days I'm back out there," said Carter, a Menchville graduate. "I'm going to get back out there and get the job done."

A freshman, Carter made his first appearances in the CWS during the crucial situation against Oklahoma Thursday. The game was tied in the 12th inning when he faced OU power-hitter Tyler Ogle. Carter recalled feeling his best in months while warming up in the bullpen.

All that changed when Ogle connected.

"My velocity felt good," Carter said. "I threw a pitch just about below the belt and he just put a great swing on it. I can't be upset about the pitch. He's hitting fourth for them for a reason."

After Carter got out of the inning, he could only hope for assistance from teammates. It came when Jackie Bradley, with two outs and two strikes, hit an RBI single to tie the score at 2. The next batter, Brady Thomas, then singled to score the winning run.

Carter exhaled.

"They picked me up and that's what this team has been about all year," he said. "I had faith in the team. I still felt bad. I kind of let the team down. But I'm just glad we're here now."

The moment was typical for the Gamecocks, who staved off elimination four times after losing their first game of the tournament. South Carolina defeated rival Clemson twice to earn a spot in the finals.

"At some point, you have to understand there is going to be a tremendous amount of adversity," South Carolina coach Ray Tanner said. "They've (UCLA) been through some and we've been through a lot. Maybe it's a credit to both teams and the players that have been able to survive it and move on."

Carter, who is 3-0 with a 5.46 ERA, said the experience will only help later in his career.

"This is why I came to school, this is why I chose to come here," Carter said. "We knew we had a good team. We've been through some adversity and I think that's helped us get to where we are now. Now we just have to finish the job."